There is an issue around the world that annoys many individuals who are wearing hearing aids, they can’t swim with them. Taking a hearing aid into the water spells trouble. Imagine the thought of ruining your hearing aid simply because you forgot to take it off.
There is good news out there. This issue has been resolved! Siemens, maker of several types of hearing aids, decided to step up to the plate and create the Aquaris waterproof hearing aid.
This is a new way at using hearing aids because, it is waterproof. We are talking about jumping into a swimming pool, swimming for hours then getting out without ever having to worry about if you removed your hearing aid. This is a great achievement in the hearing world.
The Aquaris is not affected by water, dust or shock. It is built with a very tough exterior, cutting-edge advancements and it is truly the first waterproof hearing aid on the market. It is IP57 certified, which means the device is water (one meter depth for thirty minutes), snow and sand resistant.
The design is also made with a custom soft ear mold designed to keep it comfortable while you are swimming.
That’s not all this machine can do. Many patients have reported that is not the fact that they can swim or get it wet that is appealing about the product – its more that if they are active, sweating is not an issue. I know its not as glamorous, but consider that most have to take their hearing aid out when they sweat – not an ideal situation.
Since it is sweat proof, going walking, biking, exercising and more is less of a hassle. You do not have to sit and worry if your hearing aid is getting ruined from the workout nor do you have to worry about yourself getting lost because you had to remove your hearing aid. Both issues are resolved using the Aqauris.
Finally, the Aquaris also offers the innovative Best Sound Technology for excellent clarity and can connect seamlessly to Tek and miniTek wireless enhancement systems.
For more information on Siemens’ Aquaris, visit their homepage: http://hearing.siemens.com
When you wear hearing aids, it is important to keep a daily routine for them to work properly. We have compiled the best information to help you do just that.
Care and Maintenance for your aid:
Make sure to store your hearing aid in a safe place that is not only dry but cool
Check your batteries and change them well before they go dead
Turn off your aid when you aren’t using it. You may want to remove the battery and clean it’s contact points once in a while to make sure it is connected properly
Change the filters once in a while so they don’t build up with dirt and clean the aid using the small brush/cloth that came with it
Talk to a healthcare professional about having the ear wax buildup cleaned out of your ear. This will help improve your hearing by removing wax that can block the canal. Do not attempt to do this yourself as it could result in further damage to your ears
If you follow these simple steps, your hearing aid will last longer and work better for you
However, there are some actions you should not take with a hearing aid, specifically ones that can potentially damage the aid to the point of having to replace it.
Don’t use your hearing aid in the shower or when you go swimming (except if it is the new Aquaris from Siemens). Water will damage the inner workings of a hearing aid
Don’t use your hearing aid with a hair dryer, hair spray or any other type of spray
Never use any tools on your aid as it can result in serious or permanent malfunctions to the receiver
If you can’t clean your hearing aid or your hearing aid isn’t working properly, always contact a service professional for advice and repairs.
Doing these simple points once a week can help maintain your hearing aid’s lifespan and keep you hearing well.
We all know that successful hearing aid fittings depends on “balance blending” of patient wants/needs/expectations, technology, and our troubleshooting skills. No one can be an expert in all of these areas and that is why the “second opinion” was invented.
Case Study: Patient is long-time user of ITE style HAs, who more recently pursued 2 BTE hearing aids. Over the year, multiple visits pursued for “hurts”, “slips/falls out”, and “can’t hear”. Remedy strategies included multiple changes of tubing length, earmold remakes, and counseling not to take her glasses off too fast. Recently, her daughter contacted Customer Service seeking a return for credit as mother had been continuously complaining and cannot wear them, remarking, “The most painful spot is in back of ear.”
A “second opinion” was arranged for a deliberate and careful observation of the facts, the product, and the physical fit of the hearing aids. Then, a simple act of “heat-bending” the earhooks for a snugger/tighter fit over the pinna resolved most of the problems. Additionally, professional observed that patient’s eye glass legs were very long – twice as long as daughter’s – and recommended shorter/thinner style frame legs. Two weeks later, patient called the professional and wanted to “give him a kiss over the phone”; stating that he finally resolved the 1 ½ years of pain and frustration.
Whether credit is due to “a fresh set of eyes” to review the facts, or, whether psychology is at play, using our own “natural resources”, our colleagues, as teammates in addressing fitting issues can make a huge difference in creating a friend or foe of hearing aids.
Occasionally, our patient’s get “robbed” of their amplification benefits due to unexplained, unidentified, chronic malfunction problems that go unresolved. The symptoms of the malfunction cleverly disguise themselves as a component issue, when, in fact, it usually is something entirely different. Some detective work is required to prevent these cases from ending up cold.
Case Study: Patient has severe hearing loss and is a long-time user of monaural In the canal hearing aid. He purchased one in October 2009. In September 2010, one year after favorable results, patient complained that the “volume goes up/down by itself…” There were no leads on the reason for the malfunction; could not be duplicated in the office. From September – November, several “stings” were pursued to replace components, remake with different length canal, and re-plate entirely; the culprit was untraceable. Subsequently, patient became extremely frustrated and requested justice or a refund.
C Interview with Professional on Program Settings: Kneepoints are 69-75dB, dual compression, 16dB VC range, minimum S/N reduction
C Interview with Patient on Specifics of Crime: “I always turn the wheel all the way up and then back down a little to hear well, however, with radio and TV, voices are good, then, volume goes up and go down for seconds and sometimes minutes and I miss the words…Very frustrating!”
C Interview with Siemens Audiologist: Possible issues are battery surges due to high-VC drainage, if need more gain, recommend change receiver to make it “hot” with max gain/output, turn off the input compression, change the VC range to 8dB, make a music program his primary program
Upon reviewing all of the evidence and interviews, the professional pursued the recommendation to change the VC range to 8dB and to change input compression to “off”. Outcome? The programming changes eliminated the “malfunction” and patient is, once again, a content citizen. It seems that with patient’s high volume need and wheel setting, the TV/Radio voices were being compressed causing the softening of the voices. The evidence from the detective work led to the culprit’s arrest. CASE SOLVED!
What if your patients knew that they could get a custom fit Bluetooth earset that would:
Offer greater security in cell phone transmissions
Better signal-to-noise ratio when listening in noisy environments
Improved safety while driving
Cost less than the deductible for a hypothetical car accident
Comfortably free up their hands for multi-tasking while talking at length.
Google records that the number of search hits for the word Bluetooth is a hot topic. Say “wireless earset” and no one will know what you are talking about. Say “your Bluetooth” and now you’re connected. According to Michael Foley, Ph.D., Executive Director, Bluetooth SIG, the installed base of Bluetooth products exceeded 1 billion in 2006. “To put this in perspective, 1 billion is greater than the number of PC users in the world and equal to the number of mobile phones shipped this year.” Market share anyone?
Bluetooth protocol offers a way to think forward with technology that is literally changing at the speed of light. The information is sent in profiles that is received by an electronic device with a matching PIN. That is why “the Bluetooth” has to be paired with the mobile phone. The devices are paired one time at start-up. Once in a great while, they may have to be paired again, should an error message consistently appear on the cell. When we fit ALDs and hearing aids, we want to offer options that will enable the consumer to be connected to whatever he/she desires. Bluetooth has the potential to link the ear with the TV, computer, video games, phone, entertainment system, ATM, car, or airline/hotel check-in. In addition, the list is growing because Bluetooth is low power, small size, low cost, and digital.
You already know how Bluetooth earsets are tearing down the stigma associated with wearing an electronic gadget on the head. With the Sound ID PSS, which is classified by the FDA as a hearing aid (HCPCS code V5298), the earset can be shaped to fit the hearing loss. The patient can listen monaurally to the environment, with direct connection to a favored sound source through a companion microphone, and switch over to a mobile phone call with the click of a finger. For example, a Realtor can place the companion mic in the back of the SUV and talk to clients – despite car noise – while driving and pointing out properties – and divert to a phone call – with both hands on the wheel.
Did you get your hearing aid wet by forgetting to take it out when you shower or jump into the pool? In this week’s Ask the Audiologist, Alex explains the best way to dry out your hearing aid.
Understanding your hearing benefits is not easy. Less than 1 out of every 5 Americans has insurance coverage for hearing aids*. Consider for a second, that hearing loss is more common than the loss of vision. Yet, only 14% of physicians in the US routinely screen patients for hearing. In fact, hearing loss affects 1 out of every 10 persons in this county, 1 in 3 people over the age of 60 and one-half of individuals over the age of 85.
Often an insurance plan will pay for a person to have a hearing test, but even if hearing loss is diagnosed, treatment and hearing aids might be excluded from the contract. This does not mean that you do not need help for your hearing. It is a mistake to let benefits be the sole criteria to determine what you want to do with your hearing loss. Without good hearing, it’s hard to understand and follow a doctor’s advice, drive safely and respond to warnings, hear doorbells, or even enjoy talking with friends and family.
Some insurance carriers claim hearing aids to be cosmetic and not a medical necessity. We know from the National Council on Aging in 1999 this to be the contrary. This landmark study documented the impact of untreated hearing loss on the quality of life. The study further proved the negative social, psychological, cognitive and health effects of untreated hearing loss not only on the individual suffering from hearing loss, but also similar effects upon significant others**.
This study also demonstrated for the first time that individuals with even a mild hearing loss can experience dramatic improvements in their quality of life if treated with hearing aids. In other words, you need not wait until retirement to receive the benefits of enhanced hearing. If you are one of those people with a mild, moderate or severe hearing loss, who is sitting on the fence, consider all the benefits of hearing aids. Hearing aids hold such great potential to positively change so many lives. Despite these findings, Congress has been in no hurry to add the coverage to Medicare. It is, however, considering the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act. If signed into law, it would provide a $500 tax credit every five years for hearing aids purchased for someone under 18 or over 55.
Remember with your particular plan, it is important to know that each contract might vary. HearUSA works with more insurance companies than any other national hearing healthcare organization to ensure that hearing aids are affordable and accessible for everyone with hearing loss. Many people don’t even realize there is some type of coverage. Whether your plan provides a benefit or a discount for hearing aids, any type of financial assistance is good, every bit helps. HearUSA is also the exclusive hearing healthcare provider for most Medicare Advantage plans and the network provider for AARP members.
* Dispenser Survey 2006, Hearing Review
** The Impact of Treated Hearing Loss on Quality of Life,Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D. – Better Hearing Institute, Washington, DC
2 Comments to Read 
There is an issue around the world that annoys many individuals who are wearing hearing aids, they can’t swim with them. Taking a hearing aid into the water spells trouble. Imagine the thought of ruining your hearing aid simply because you forgot to take it off.
